What happened to the Black Eyed Peas' lyrical imagination?

[meserach.livejournal.com]

Elephunk era Black Eyed Peas:

Shut Up - "How could you trust your private eyes/girl, that's why you won't believe my lies/and quick deceptions"

Let's Get Retarded - "Bop your head like epilepsy"

Latin Girls - "Bring your friends/And bring your cousins cause I know you got dozens of them"

&c &c

The E.N.D-era Black Eyed Peas:

NOT A SINGLE MEMORABLE LINE

(okay, I kinda like "digital spit" and "beat so big I'm stepping on leprechauns", from Boom Boom Pow.)

(okay, okay, there's a few other good lines too but there's still a noticeable decline in quality is my point)

What happened?

Comments

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

I don't see what's all that memorable about the stuff quoted above -- and even that is at least in the same ballpark as E.N.D. They used to write shit that looked like THIS:

"This is the payback from the past
You threw me down like I was just a piece of trash
You gave me cash every week just enough to live
But didn't get what I deserved instead I was deceived
Still young and didn't know about this in the street
Of the acts, so crass and shady
Don't crush your dreamshow and your whole entity
Subliminally you're on the hire from a slavery
Remember that "What goes around, comes around"
God is watching you and evrything that you do
Do you remember everything that you did before
The way the bad action opens cosmic door
I'ma leave it up to God what he got for you
I'ma leave it up to Him what he got for me
And he's watching you"

[meserach.livejournal.com]

Okay, so more background about me and the Peas:

I only became aware of the Peas along with most of the hoi polloi when "Where Is the Love?" hit. Despite the preachy nature of that hit, however, I immediately was way more into all the party stuff that followed it, which mixed strong hooks and party beats to some cheeky, so-stupid-it's-clever-and-indeed-often-actually-clever rhymes.

In short, I like my Peas in party mode, and I've never really explored their earlier stuff (despite hearing great things about "Bridiging the Gap").

Within that context, I've been percieveing a decline in lyrical quality.